Wherever It Takes Us

Wherever It Takes Us, 3

I'm in the living room flipping through the channels when the front door opens and I hear Katherine's voice call out, "I'm home!" I try to stay still, hoping she won't notice me. I don't know what to say to her besides nothing. "Hey." she mutters as she walks through the room and disappears down the hall.

I let out a sigh of relief. At 5:00 I'd finished reading her journal. She not once mentioned Daniel's name which made me sure it was him. Life is such a bitch.

That night at dinner while I dish beans onto my plate, Katherine says, "Oh, Mom, I can't help at the Church tomorrow. Daniel and I are going ice skating."

I freeze, then look up at her. "What? Why?" I ask.

"Uh, because we want to." she says, looking at me skeptically. Then she turns back and continues chatting with Mom.

. . .

I walk down the hall, searching faces for someone I can trust. One name keeps coming back into my mind, but I know it's hopeless. I can't come up with anyone else who would help me without questioning it. Finally, I give up and go to Declan who sits alone on a bench doing homework. I sit down beside him, and the second he looks up and sees me, he begins standing up to leave.

"No, Declan!" I protest, grabbing his arm and pulling him back down. "I need your help."

He sighs. "As long as you don't try to give me yours."

"You know Daniel Jacobs?" I ask.

"Yeah, the idiot football player." he says bitterly.

"Um, yeah. I need you to get him detention." I say. "Do you have a class with him?" Declan nods. "Good. Start arguing with him and he'll fight back."

"But I'll also get detention." he reminds me.

"Are you willing to sacrifice yourself?" I ask hopefully.

"If I get another detention I'll get suspended. If I get suspended my dad..." he trails off. "Whatever, I'll do it." he shrugs.

"Wait what?" I ask, my eyes widening.

"Nothing." he replies.

"No, if it'll get you in that much trouble then don't do it." I say.

"I don't care. I'll do it." he says, and he gets up and leaves. Now I have another problem. Declan's going I get in trouble because of me.

. . .

I watch as Declan and Daniel walk into the classroom at 4:30, and Declan looks bewildered to see me. I motion to the empty seat beside me and he sits down. "What the hell are you doing here?" he mutters.

"Making sure you're not which you are. Declan, you're going to get suspended." I tell him.

"No, I'm not. I talked to Principal Boyd and I'm fine for now. You should go." he says.

"I can't. I'm in detention." I say.

"What?" he says, raising his eyebrows, but doesn't wait for an answer or explanation. "Why did you make me mess with Daniel?"

"I didn't." I say. "I asked you to. You had free will." He rolls his eyes. "It's because of my sister Katherine. She's kind of having a hard time and I think it's because of him. So I wanted to make sure they couldn't hang out today."

"Katherine?" he repeats. He's silent for a moment as if this thinking things over. Then his eyes widen in shock and he says, "Oh shit. Critchley. Katherine Critchley."

"You know her?" I ask in surprise.

"I just know she's kind of popular. What's wrong with her?" he asks.

"I'm really not going to talk about it with you." I tell him.

He just looks away, and for the first time he seems nervous.